Locomotive-fireman&#39;s coal-shoveling recorder.



G. G. WESTON.

LOGOMOTIVE PIREMANS COAL SHOVELING RECORDER.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 11. 1913.

1,092,466, v Patented Apr.7,191 L 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

G. G. WESTON. LOCOMOTIVE FIREMANS GOAL SHOVELING RECORDER. APPLICATION FILED APR. 11, 1913.

1,092,466. Patented Apr. 7, 191 1 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

GEORGE G. WESTON, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

LOCOMOTIV E-FIREMAN S CQAL-SiHOVE'LING RECORDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 7, 1914.

Application filed April 11, 1913. Serial No. 760,549. 7

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE G. Wns'roN, a citizen of the United States,'and resident of St. Louis, Missouri, have invented. certain new and useful Improvements in Locomotive-Firemens -.Coal-Shoveling Recorders, of which the following is a specification containing a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof,

y invention relates to a locomotive firemans coal shoveling recorder, and consists in the novel construction hereinafter described and specifically designated in the appended claims.

The principal object of my invention is to induce the fireman to fire in a more economicalmanner by keeping thefire-door closed as much as possible.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device which shall automatically record upon a traveling sheet or strip the number of times that the locomotive firedoor is opened, and the length of time the same is kept open during the trip made by the locomotive.

By the use of my firemans coal shoveling recorder a check will be placed upon the fireman, and he will take greater pains vto quickly close the fire-door after feeding.

coal to the fire, and he will also get into the habit of swinging the fire-door between Each shovelful of coal placed in the fire In the drawings: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a locomotive fire-door-having my firemans coal shoveling recorder" connected thereto; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a portion of the fire-door having the electrical contact-making device applied thereto; Fig. 3 is a sectional side elevation of ,a portion of the fire-door, the'section being taken on the line 3,3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the record proper; Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the same taken on the line 55 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view of the traveling pencil carrier and its connections. y

The numeral 1 indicates the usuallocomotive fire-door mounted to swing in the usual 'manner'upon the hinges 2, provided with the usual latch 3.

' My coal shoveling recorder is preferably operated by means of electrical connections with the fire-door 1, and such construction will be presently described in detail.

The numeral 4: indicates a common record cylinder mounted to rotate upon a suitable frame 5, by means of toothed gearing 6 driven by any. ordinary motor or clockwork 7. A record sheet 8 is preferably composed of a rectangular sheet of paper havmg ts face provided with a series of right angular intersecting lines forming between them a series of rectangular spaces 9. Said record sheet 8 is rolled into the form of a cylinder of the size corresponding to the diameter of the said record cylinder 4, the opposite ends of said sheet being secured together in any suitable manner, as by an adhesive, and the said record cylinder carrying the said record sheet is adapted to be slowly rotated by the said motor or clockwork 7 during a trip made by the locomot1ve carrying the recorder. In the present instance, the record cylinder is geared to make sixty revolutions in twelve (12) hours.

The numeral 1O indicates a common pencll, or it may be any other common recording device carried by a pencil-holder 11,

which is pivotally connected at 12 to a wellknown form of traveling pencil-carrier 13,

is'impar't'ed by a gear wheel 15 meshing with the said gear 6. The said pencil carrier 13 in the construction shown and described is ofthe form which has been well known for many years in the talking machine known as the gr'aphophone, and forthat reason I have not deemed it necessaryto more particularly describe its construction. The said screw 14; is mounted in end bearings 16 of the frame 5 so that said screw extends parallel with said record cylinder 4:. The numeral 17 indicates a fixed hollow guldebar upon which the said traveling pencilcarrier 13 slides.

By merely increasing the length of the record cylinder 4 and the record sheet 8, a correspondingly longer record may be made of the locomotive in service, locomotives often being in service as long as twenty-four hours.

The mounting of the traveling pencil-carrier 13 so that the same may be driven by the screw 14 is in the present instance identically like the construction heretofore used for many'years in the well known travelingcarrier of the'graphophone, and need not be specifically described except to saythat a lateral guide-arm 18 is secured to the ,under side' of said traveling pencil-carrier 13 by means of suitable screws 19, so that said guide-arm depends from said carrier and extends into the usual guide-slot 20 of the frame 5, whereby the traveling pencil-carrier will be prevented from rotating upon said hollow guide-bar 17. A nut 21 is mounted, as usual, to slide in a recess 22 of said guide-arm 18, and the threads of said nut are normally urged into contact with the threads of the drive screw 14 by the usual spring 23. The guide-bar 17 is provided on its under side with the usual longitudinal slot 24 through WlllClltllG. nut 21 projects. (See Fig. 6.)

Rotatably mounted on the pencil-carrier 13 is the-usual cam 25 which engages the nut 21 to release the nut from engagement with the drive screw 14, and the cam 25 is also provided with an angular projection 26 which engages the usual lateral arm 27 on the pencil-holder 11, to first .-elevate said pencil-holder to throw the pencil 10 out of contact with the record sheet and then to detach the said nut 21 from the threads of the drive screw 14 to stop the movement of the traveling pencil-carrier. The numeral 28 indicates a cam-lever projecting laterally from said cam 25 and carrying at its outer end the armature 29 of a common electromagnet 30, the latter being supported by the arms 31 projecting laterally from the traveling pencil-carrier 13. A suitable spring 32 is connected with said cam-lever 28 and to the' guide-arm 18, for the purpose of normally retracting said armature.

Carried by the said fire-door 1 is a contact spring 33 which is insulated from the door by means of suitable insulation 34. Mounted above the fire-door is another contact spring 35 which is insulated from the boilerhead by means of suitable insulation 36. The contact spring 35 is curved to the radius of an are described by the said contact spring 33 when the fire-door 1 is open or closed, so that whenever said door is opened said contact spring 33 will engage the contact spring 35, whether the door be opened partially or fully. (See Fig. 2.) It will be seen, by reference to Fig. 3, that the contact piece 35 is formed with an ofiset 35, and that this is so disposed that while the contact piece 33 is not in engagement with the contact piece 35 when the door 1 is closed, engagement takes place as soon as the door has been opened to a slight extent. The advantage of this is that a record is made should the fireman be negligent in closing the door tightly, the apparatus thus serving not only to indicate when the door is left open during stoking, but also when left open through negligence to latch or otherwise secure the door in tightly closed position. Suitable electrical-conductors 37 and 38 connect said contacts 33 and 35 to the said electro-magnet 30, the current for the circuit. may be supplied by any suitable source of electricity such as a common battery 39.

The numeral 40 indicates a common switch for opening and closing the circuit.

The operation is as follows: Whenever the fire-door 1 is open said contact spring 33 will be immediately brought in contact with the fixed contact spring 35 and. if the switch 40 be closed, as it should be when the locomotive is in service, current will pass from the source ofelectricity 39 through said electro-magnet 30 and will energize the latter, causing it to attract its armature 29 and correspondingly elevate the cam-lever 28 in opposition to the power of the spring 32, thereby slightly rotating the cam 25 on the traveling pencil-carrier 13, permitting the nut 21 to engage the threads of the drive screw 14 which will immediately cause the traveling pencil-carrier to begin its movement, while at the same time the angular projection 26 of the cam 25 will release the pencil-holder arm 27 causing the pencil 10 at the free end of the pencil-holder to engage the record sheet 8. The clock-work or common motor 7 rotates the record cylinder and the record sheet continually during the time that the locomotive is in service, so that whenever the fire-door 1 is opened the pencil 10 will contact with the record sheet and make a written record thereon in the form of dots and dashes, the length of which of course depends upon the length of time- 'which the 'fire-door is permitted to remain open. For instance, should the pencil 10 make a dash one half inch long upon the record sheet, that would indicate that the fire-door had remained open about sixty v seconds, while a mere dot would indicate that the fire-door had remained open but a very short time, say about five or six seconds, whieh is the time usually required by e an expert fireman in opening the door and placing a shovelful of coal in the fire-box and again closing the door.

It will be observed that whenever the door is closed the contact springs 33 and 35 are separated, thereby breaking the circuit and releasing the armature 29, so that the spring 32 will cause the pencil 10' to be door,

moved out of contact with the record sheet and the other parts to assume their normal positions, whichis shown in Fig. 5.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a recording device adapted to be placed in the cab of a locomotive,-and which will antomatically make a record of each shovelful of coal placed in the fire-box of a locomotive and also make a record of the number of times that the locomotive fire-door has been opened during a trip and the length of time the door has been kept 0pen,-thereby placing an effective check upon the fireman and inducing him to keep the fire-door closed as much as possible for the sake of economy in the use of fuel.

I claim: v

1. The combination of a hinged furnace a contact piece fixed thereto and moving therewith, another contact piece, curved and supported so as to be concentric with the hinges of the door and in the path ofthe contact piece carried by the door, and suitable electrically operated means controlled by the engagement of the said contact pieces for recording the opening and closing of the door.

2. The combination of a hinged furnace door, a contact piece fixed thereto and moving therewith, another contact piece formed of a curved piece of metal mounted on a fixed support and arranged so as to be concentric with the hinges of the said door and in the path traversed by the contact piece which is carried by the door, the said curved contact piece having an offset arranged to permit the said contact pieces toseparate when the door is closed, but to come into engagement as soon as the door is opened, and suitable electrically-operated means controlled by the engagement of the said contact pieces for recording the opening and closing of the door.

In testimonywhereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE Gr. WESTON.

Witnesses: v

E. L. WALLACE, JOHN C. HIGDON. 

